Automatic sprinkling device



Aug. 26, 1969 H. COBIGO AUTOMATIC SPRINKLING DEVICE 3 Sheets-Sheet 1Filed Jan. 9, 1967 APPLICANT Henri Cobigo Nolte and Nolte ATTORNEYS Aug.26, 1969 H. COBIGO AUTOMATIC SPRINKLING DEVICE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 m a Jan.9, 1967 H Aug. 26, 1969 H. COBIGO Y 3,

AUTOMATIC SPRINKLING DEVICE Filed Jan. 9, 1967 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 O w-l ngoo 32 33 INVENTQR HENRI COBIGO ATTORNEYS United States Patent US. Cl.239-231 12 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates toan automatic sprinkler comprising a sprinkling nozzle carried by a bodymember pivoted on a fixed support member and formed with an internalcavity of revolution in which water is made to whirl and thus to driveinto rotation a ball enclosed within said cavity. The rotating ballperiodically impedes the flow of water, and imparts to the body memberan oscillatory motion around its support. A rotary motion may beadditionally imparted to said body member, either by the reaction of thewater jet, or by transforming said oscillatory motion. The sprinkler mayfurther incorporate means for periodic reversal of said rotary motion,and means for parting and deflecting the water jet.

The present invention relates generally to automatic sprinkling devices,and more particularly to an automatic sprinkler of the type comprising aball or body of revolution enclosed within an internal cavity of a bodymember, said ball being driven into rotation by water whirling in saidcavity, and thereby periodically obturating water inlet and outletformed in the wall of said cavity, so that the range of the jet of wateris periodically altered, thus enhancing water dispersion.

An essential object of this invention resides in improving waterdispersion by using centrifugal force derived from the rotation of saidball to impart to said body member an oscillatory motion around asubstantially vertical axis.

Another object of this invention is to improve water dispersionfurthermore by adding to said oscillatory motion a rotary motion aroundsaid axis, said rotary motion being either imparted to said body memberby the reaction of the Water jet, or merely derived from saidoscillatory motion.

A further object of this invention is to provide in an automaticsprinkler of the aforesaid type, means for periodical reversal of saidrotary motion.

A still further object of this invention is to provide an automaticsprinkler of the aforesaid type with means for dividing and periodicallydeflecting the water jet, thereby further improving Water dispersion.

Still another object of this invention is to provide an automaticsprinkler of the type concerned, which is rugged in its design and whichoperates under steadily satisfactory conditions by the most adversecircumstances.

These and other objects are fulfilled by an automatic sprinkler made inaccordance with the present invention, which comprises a body memberformed with an internal cavity having a wall of revolution about asubstantially vertical axis, an injection orifice formed in said wallfor introducing pressurized water into said cavity at an angle such asto cause said water to whirl therein before issuing therefrom through anexhaust orifice formed in said wall and connected to said sprinklingnozzle carried by said body member; and a ball enclosed within saidcavity and driven into rotation by the water whirling therein therebyperiodically obturating at least partially said injection and exhaustorifices, and said body member is operatively mounted on a fixed supportmember for rotation around a second, substantially vertical axishorizontally spaced from said first axis, so that said rotating ballimparts to said body member an oscillatory motion around said secondaxis.

According to another aspect of this invention, duct means operativelyextend through said body and support members to communicate saidinjection orifice with a fitting provided on said support member forconnection with an external pressurized water supply.

According to still another aspect of the invention, said sprinklingnozzle is situated in a plane passing aside of said second axis, wherebysaid body member is furthermore driven into a continuous rotary motion.

Advantageously, said sprinkling nozzle is angularly movable on said bodymember between first and second planes passing on opposite sides of saidsecond axis, and stop means are provided for shifting said injectionnozzle from one of said planes to the other as the angular displacementof said body member around said second axis reaches a predeterminedvalue.

According to an alternative embodiment of the invention, a one-wayclutch is provided between said body member and support member forconverting said oscillatory motion into a jerky rotary motion aroundsaid second axis.

Advantageously, said one-way clutch is of a commutable type, and stopmeans are provided for reversing the direction of action of said clutchas the angular displacement of said body member around said second axisreaches a predetermined value.

According to a further aspect of this invention, means are provided fordeflection of the jet of water, which comprise a substantiallyvertically extending, thin blade disposed in front of said sprinklingnozzle, said blade being carried by said body member by means ofresiliently deformable arms weighted with deadheads.

Other features and advantages of the automatic sprinkler of the presentinvention will appear more clearly from the following description of anillustrative embodiment thereof shown in the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

FIGURE 1 is a sectional view of an automatic sprinkler according to thisinvention;

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of the sprinkler, the cover of Which is omitted;

FIGURE 3 is an explanatory sketch illustrating the op eration of thesprinkler;

FIGURE 4 is a part-sectional view showing a modification of thesprinkler cover;

FIGURE 4a'is a part-sectional view of the sprinkler cover with stopmeans;

FIGURE 5 and FIGURE 6 are respectively a sectional view and a plan viewof the sprinkler equipped with a device for water jet deflection;

FIGURE 7 is an explanatory sketch illustrating the operation of thesprinkler as shown in FIGURES 5 and 6;

FIGURE 8 is a part-sectional view showing at a larger scale the devicefor jet deflection; and

FIGURE 9 illustrates an embodiment of a reversible one-way clutch.

The automatic sprinkler shown on FIGURES 1 and 2 is made up by a fixedsupport member 1 provided at its lower end with a tapped fitting forconnection to an external supply of water under pressure, and by atwo-part body member 2-5 rotatably mounted on said support member andcarrying a water jet nozzle 6.

The aforesaid body member comprises a lower part 2 provided with atubular extension received in a bore formed in support member 1 andretained therein by a circlip or like stop member, thus allowing forfree rotation of body member 2 around a vertical axis ed. The lower endof said tubular extension opens into the tapped fitting of supportmember 1, an O-ring or like seal securing water tightness of theassembly.

The aforesaid body member also comprises an upper part or cover 5mounted on lower part 2, a gasket 7 sealing off the assembly of saidparts; the upper end of the tubular extension of lower part 2 is thushermetically closed, leaving only communication with a water inletpassage 8 opening into an internal cavity E defined in said body memberbetween lower and upper parts 2 and 5 thereof.

As shown, said cavity E is of revolution around a substantially verticalaxis xy laterally spaced from the aforesaid rotary axis cd. Water inletpassage 8 opening obliquely into cavity E, the water injected thereintothrough said passage is caused to whirl around axis xy before issuingthrough an exhaust orifice formed in the wall of cavity E at a locationsubstantially diametrically opposite to passage 8; said exhaust orifice10 communicates with a sprinkling nozzle 6 carried by cover 5 andthrough which water is ejected obliquely, following the initialdirection ab.

A body of revolution, preferably and as shown a ball 4, is freelyenclosed within cavity E; said ball is driven into rotation by thewhirling water, so that centrifugal force causes said ball to roll alongthe wall of cavity E; ball 4 thus alternately obturates at leastpartially the water injection and exhaust orifices at each revolution,thereby periodically altering the initial pressure and hence theelongation of the water jet emitted through nozzle 6.

Besides, and according to an essential aspect of this invention, therotating ball 4 imparts to body member 25 an oscillatory motion aroundits pivotal axis ed, as it will be explained herebelow with reference toFIGURE 3. The rotating ball 4 exerts on the wall of cavity E a force Fhaving a substantially constant intensity and a substantially radialdirection with respect to the axis xy of said cavity. When consideredwith respect to axis ca, around which body member 2-5 is pivoted, saidforce F develops a periodically varying momentum, which is equal to theproduct of the intensity of force F by the distance from pivotal axis cdto an imaginary straight line carrying said force.

Accordingly, said momentum is equal to zero whenever the center of theball is located in a plane including both axis xy and cd, since thecorresponding centrifugal forces F F are purely radial with respect tothe axis cd and thus may be entirely compensated by the reaction of thepivotal connection provided between the body member and support member.On the contrary, said momentum reaches opposite maximal values wheneverthe centrifugal forces F F, as shown are perpendicular to the aforesaidplane. As a consequence, an oscillatory motion around axis cd isimparted to body member 2-5, the amplitude of said motion depending onvarious parameters, such as the actual speed of the ball, the radius ofits absolute trajectory, the ratio of the mass of the ball to that ofthe body member, the frictional drag of the pivotal connection, etc.Additionally, it is to be noted that whereas the initial direction ab ofthe water jet does not intersect the pivotal axis ed, as shown inFIGURES 2 and 3the jet reaction R exerts on body member 25 acorresponding momentum, and thus imparts to the same a steady rotarymotion around axis ed. Now, the torques exerted on body member 2-5 bythe jet of water and by the rotation of ball 4 respectively arealternately additive and subtractive for each revolution of said ball;thus, body member 2-5 performs around axis cd alternate angulardisplacements F F of reverse directions and unequal amplitudes, whichresult into an effective angular displacement r for each revolution ofball 4.

Thus, body member 2-5 and accordingly the jet of water are made torevolve around axis cd in a jerky manner.

According to an improved embodiment of the sprinkler shown on FIGURE 4,the sprinkling nozzle 6 is pivotally mounted on cover 5, in order toallow for passing of the initial direction ab of the water jet from oneside to the other of pivotal axis cd, thereby inverting the sense of theabove-mentioned rotary motion. In this occurrence, the sprinkler isadvantageously provided with stop means rigid with support member 1 andadapted to effectuate automatic commutation of the initial direction ofthe water jet, so that only a rated sector is watered.

According to an alternative embodiment of the sprinkler of thisinvention, the oscillatory motion imparted to body member 2-5 by therotating ball 4 may be directly transformed into a jerky rotary motionby a oneway clutch or like mechanism operatively arranged betweensupport member 1 and body member 2-5.

As previously contemplated, the sense of this rotary motion may beperiodically reversed by using a doubleaction one-way clutch deviceassociated with stop means operatively disposed on support member 1, sothat only a rated sector is watered. The automatic sprinkler of thisinvention made in accordance with any embodiment thereof as describedhereinabove, performs a uniform watering of at will either a completeannular zone or only a rated sector of the same, by virtue of the highdispersion of the water jet which is due to the intricate law ofdisplacement imparted to said jet, and to the variation in its rangeresulting from periodic obturation of water inlet and outlet orifices byball 4.

FIG. 4a is'a view similar to FIG. 4, showing one of two angularly spacedstop means 20 rigid with support member 1, said stop means cooperatingwith a spigot 21 carried by the sprinkling nozzle 6 and extending intoan annular groove 22 of the body member 5. Said groove extends over apredetermined angular length about the axis of nozzle 6, which isthereby urged by the reaction of the water jet into either of two stablepositions relative to body member 5. Upon engagement of the spigot 21with one stop means 20, the jerky motion of body member 5 deriving fromthe steady rotation of ball 4 causes shifting of nozzle 6 to itsopposite position relative to body member 5, which is thus driven intothe opposite direction.

In order to further improve water dispersion, and according to anotheraspect of this invention, the sprinkler may be equipped with a devicefor parting and deflecting the water jet, as illustrated on FIGURES 5 to8.

As shown on FIGURES 5 and 6, an automatic sprinkler of the typedescribed hereabove with reference to FIGURES 1-3 is provided with athin blade 9 made of a resiliently deformable and preferablynoncorrodible material, such as a stainless steel blade, disposed infront of the sprinkling nozzle in a substantially vertical plane, so asto part the water jet. Said blade 9 is cut from a blank in the form of ayoke, the legs of which are secured at their free ends to nozzle 6 byscrews, bolts, rivets or like fasteners 11, at least one of said legscarrying at its opposite end headheads 10 attached thereto by rivets 12.At rest, blade 9 divides the water jet into two equal parts; as soon asbody member 2-5 starts oscillating, inertia of deadheads causes blade 9to follow with delay the oscillatory motion of nozzle 6, therebyperiodically unbalancing the ratio of the parted flows and alternatelydeflecting them at a maximum angle 5, 5;. Thus, two distinct regions aresimultaneously water, which difier in their respective areas and intheir angular and radial locations.

FIG. 9 illustrates a possible embodiment of a reversible one-way clutchto be interposed between the fixed support member 1 and the revolvingbody member 2.

Body member 1 is provided with a peripheral portion 30 of a hexagonalcontour, which is surrounded by an annular skirt 31 depending from bodymember 2; six rollers 32 are interposed between said skirt and each hatof a body member 1 respectively said rollers being disposed in a commoncage 33.

If permanent revolution of body member 2 in one determined direction isdesired, a simple solution consists in urging resiliently cage 33 intothe opposite peripheral direction, thereby causing rollers 32 to bewedged between support member 1 and body member 2 or to be disengaged,depending as body member 2 tends to rotate in said opposite direction orin said determined direction.

If alternate revolution of body member 2 in both directions is desired,a simple solution consists in urging cage 33 through the intermediary ofa bistable swinging lever carried by support member 1 and actuated bybody member 2.

Alternately, the skirt 31 could be formed with a hexagonal internalcontour, so that the swinging lever could be mounted on body member 2and actuated by angularly spaced stop means on support member 1, asrecited in the claims.

It will be well understood that various modifications and changes may bebrought by those skilled in the art to the automatic sprinkler as shownand described.

What I claim is:

1. An automatic sprinkler comprising a body member rotatably mounted ona fixed support member for rotation about a first, substantiallyvertical axis; said body member being formed with an internal cavityhaving a wall of revolution about a second axis parallel to andlaterally spaced from said first axis; said cavity being communicatedwith inlet duct means extending through said body member and operativelyconnected to an external supply of pressurized water, and with outletduct means connected to a sprinkling nozzle carried by said body member;said inlet duct means comprising an end section terminating at an inletorifice formed in said wall of said cavity and opening into said cavityat an angle with respect to the radial plane thereof intersecting saidinlet orifice; said outlet duct means ending at an outlet orifice formedin said wall of said cavity at a location out of alignment with said endsection of said inlet duct means, so that water injected through saidinlet orifice into said cavity is caused to whirl therein beforeescaping through said outlet orifice; the water whirling in said cavitydriving into rotation a ball freely enclosed therein, so thatcentrifugal force causes said ball to roll along said wall, and therebyalternately to obturate at least partially said inlet and outletorifices, and to exert on said body member an alternating momentumimparting to the same an oscillatory motion around said first axis.

2. An automatic sprinkler according to claim 1, wherein said inlet ductmeans comprises a first section extending coaxially to said first axisfrom a fitting provided in said support member for connection to saidexternal supply of pressurized water, said end section extendingradially from said first section to said inlet orifice.

3. An automatic sprinkler according to claim 1 wherein said sprinklingnozzle is situated in a plane passing aside of said first axis, wherebysaid body member is furthermore driven into a continuous rotary motionaround said first axis.

4. An automatic sprinkler according to claim 3, wherein said sprinklingnozzle in angularly movable on said body member between first and secondplanes passing on opposite sides of said first axis, and wherein saidsupport member carries angularly spaced stop means operative forshifting said sprinkling nozzle from one of said planes to the other asthe angular displacement of said body member around said first axisreaches a predetermined value.

5. An automatic sprinkler according to claim 1, wherein a one-way clutchis provided between said body member and support member for convertingsaid oscillatory motion into a jerky rotary motion around said firstaxis.

6. An automatic sprinkler according to claim 5, Wherein said one-wayclutch is of a reversible type, and wherein said support member carriesangularly spaced stop means operative for reverting the direction ofaction of said clutch as the angular displacement of said body memberaround said first axis reaches a predetermined value.

7. An automatic sprinkler comprising a body member rotatably mounted ona fixed support member for rotation about a first, substantiallyvertical axis; said body member being formed with an internal cavityhaving a wall of revolution about a second axis parallel to andlaterally spaced from said first axis; said cavity being communicatedwith inlet duct means extending through said body member and operativelyconnected to an external supply of pressurized water, and with outletduct means connected to a sprinkling nozzle carried by said body member;said inlet duct means comprising an end section terminating at an inletorifice formed in said wall of said cavity and opening into said cavityat an angle.

with respect to the radial plane thereof intersecting said inletorifice; said outlet duct means ending at an outlet orifice formed insaid wall of said cavity at a location out of alignment with said endsection of said inlet duct means, so that water injected through saidinlet orifice into said cavity is caused to whirl therein beforeescaping therefrom through said outlet orifice; the water whirling insaid cavity driving into rotation a ball freely enclosed therein, sothat centrifugal force causes said ball to roll along said wall, andthereby alternately to obturate at least partially said inlet and outletorifices, and to exert on said body member an alternating momentumimparting to the same an oscillatory motion around said first axis; and

wherein means are ,provided for deflection of the jet of Water issuingfrom said sprinkling nozzle, which com prise a substantially verticallyextending, thin blade disposed in front of said sprinkling nozzle, saidblade being carried by resiliently deformable arms anchored on said bodymember and weighted with deadheads.

8. An automatic sprinkler according to claim 7, wherein said inlet ductmeans comprises a first section extending coaxially to said first axisfrom a fitting provided in said support member for connection to saidexternal supply of pressurized water, said end section extendingradially from said first section to said inlet orifice.

9. An automatic sprinkler according to claim 7, wherein said sprinklingnozzle is situated in a plane passing aside of said first axis, wherebysaid body member is furthermore driven into a continuous rotary motionaround said first axis.

10. An automatic sprinkler according to claim 9, wherein said sprinklingnozzle is angularly movable on said body member between first and secondplanes passing on opposite sides of said first axis, and wherein saidsupport member carries angularly spaced stop means operative forshifting said sprinkling nozzle from one of said planes to the other asthe angular displacement of said body member around said first axisreaches a predetermined value.

11. An automatic sprinkler according to claim 7, References Citedwherein a one-way clutch is provided between said body UNITED STATESPATENTS member and support member for converting said oscilla- 1 742 898H1930 Buelna X tory motion into a jerky rotary motion around said first2:0O9:478 7/1935 C0165 QUIZ: 239 241 X axis- 5 2,021,710 11/1935 Wilson239 231 12. An automatic sprinkler according to claim 11, 3,051,3968/1962 McElhenie 239-231 X wherein said one-way clutch is of areversible type, and 3,103,313 9/1963 Raem 239230 wherein said supportmember carries angularly spaced M HENSON WOOD JR. Primary Examiner stopmeans operative for reversing the direction of action 10 of said clutchas the angular displacement of said body BERNARD BELKIN AsslstantExaminer member around said first axis reaches a predetermined Us. CLvalue- 239206, 242

